Ship pilot called for tugboat help before ploughing into Baltimore bridge

The collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge lies on top of the container ship Dali in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 27, 2024. - AFP

BALTIMORE: The pilot of the cargo freighter that knocked down a highway bridge into Baltimore Harbour had radioed for tugboat help and reported a power loss minutes earlier, federal safety officials said on Wednesday (March 27), citing audio from the ship's "black box" data recorder.

The head of the National Transportation Safety Board also said that Francis Scott Key Bridge, a traffic artery over the harbor built in 1976, lacked structural engineering redundancies common to newer spans, making it more vulnerable to a catastrophic collapse.